Acquavella adjudication winding down

In a fertile valley where water is king

Yakima River water-rights case clarifies water law

While drought has plagued our state in recent years, its toll in the Yakima Valley has been a concern for many generations.

In the summer of 1977, farmers were worried. Was there going to be enough water for their apple, pear, cherry and peach orchards and row crops, like corn, potatoes and melons? And if they came up short, would water wars flare up?

Times were tense. Earlier in 1974, federal Judge George Boldt issued the historic ruling affirming Native American treaty fishing rights. Commercial fisherman complained. And litigants were lining up at the courthouse.

How could conflicts be prevented when managing a finite resource that was largely spoken for, one which gives priority to users as outlined in the state's 1917 surface water law — “first in time, first in right?”

This was the backdrop when Ecology entered into what would become the state's longest-running court case to determine and confirm surface water rights in the Yakima River Basin.

Water rights will be confirmed on the Yakima River Basin and its tributary creeks and canals

After 40 years of painstaking court proceedings and deliberation, the historic Ecology v. James Acquavella, et al legal adjudication soon will be final.

Over the years, the court has issued conditional final orders confirming rights by subbasin in four counties. Now those orders are captured in a single proposed final order that will confirm some 2,500 rights, once a final review period set by Yakima County Superior Court and undertaken by Ecology.

Who was James Acquavella?

James J. Acquavella was the first name listed on the summons when Ecology filed a petition for an adjudication to determine the legality of all claims for surface water in the Yakima River Basin in October of 1977. Henceforth, that became the Ecology v. James Acquavella, et al water rights case. It had a distinctly "aquatic" ring.

According to a 2009 article in the Tri-City Herald, all James Acquavella of Richland wanted to know in 1977 was if he was going to get the water he needed for his five acres, for which he believed he had a legitimate water right.

Before the adjudication, water users relied on irrigation ditch riders and an honor system of claims dating to the 1860s and1870s, while the rights of the Yakama Nation under the 1855 treaty were unquantified and largely unrecognized.

Long years of gathering evidence, and monthly court sessions

Water users had to establish and prove the date of their original, sometimes pioneer, pre-statehood, water use, and how much they were entitled to divert.

Ecology staffers in the Central Region assigned to the case gathered this evidence, beginning a thorough and binding review of all the historical facts.

“This basin has long been thought to be over-appropriated,” explained Ecology's Becky Johnson in 1999, who worked for the court. “In a basin that is over-appropriated, it’s important to establish who has water rights and to prioritize those rights. In a water-short year that can mean the difference of whether you do or don’t have water.”

Farmers would bring in homestead patents that go back to the late 1800s. People brought old court cases dealing with water rights, newspaper articles, and biographies, published books that detailed a family, where they settled, and perhaps the crops they grew.

Major claimants brought articles of incorporation, bylaws, maps, diversion records and other historical documents to help establish a right. Sometimes there were boxes of exhibits that had to be thoroughly examined.

Water lawyers made a career of meeting monthly in Yakima for "water day" and the case made four trips to the state Supreme Court to clarify water laws.

Looking forward

The case examined and prioritized thousands of individual water claims in 31 tributary basins comprising Kittitas, Yakima, and Benton counties and a bit of Klickitat County. It settles old conflicts and will reduce future conflicts, especially among 30 major claimants including cities, irrigation districts, federal entities and the Yakama Nation.

“Now water users have clarity about their water rights and stability on what they can expect going forward,” said Ecology’s deputy director Polly Zehm. “This process brought parties to the courtroom to settle claims, and over the long years laid the foundation for a more collaborative approach to meet all our water needs through adoption of the Yakima Integrated Water Management Plan.”

Open House

On Aug. 10, 2017, Yakima Superior Court Judge F. James Gavin entered a proposed final decree for the case including a draft schedule of rights set to be confirmed over the next eight months.

An open house is scheduled for 5-7 p.m., Sept. 6, 2017, at Ecology’s Central Regional Office, 1250 W. Alder St., Union Gap, where people can ask questions about their water rights and learn more about the process including deadlines for filing objections.

The draft schedule of rights is available for review on Ecology’s website. Anyone may file written objections with the court until Nov. 15, 2017. A schedule for court review and responses to objections will follow as needed until April 14, 2018. More information is available on Ecology’s website.

By Joye Redfield-Wilder, Central Regional communications manager

Irrigation restrictions issued in Chehalis River Basin

Junior water rights holders on notice: protect instream flows, senior rights

Water use restrictions on some rivers in Chehalis Basin prevent junior water right holders from diverting surface water for commercial uses, including agricultural field irrigation. The restrictions don’t affect water for homes or livestock.

Mid-summer heat plus a lengthy dry spell have resulted in lower stream flows for four rivers in the Chehalis River drainage basin in Southwest Washington.

The result? Ecology has informed 93 junior water right holders that their access to surface water for commercial uses including irrigation may be curtailed until stream flows improve.

The affected rivers in the watershed are the Chehalis, Newaukum, Satsop, and Wynoochee. The limitations don’t affect rights to divert water for home use or to provide water for livestock. The restrictions do prevent junior water right holders from diverting surface water for commercial uses.

Instream flow levels are not being met for the
Newaukum and Wynoochee rivers, so junior surface
water right holders must curtail commercial water use.  

Each summer, we are reminded that water is a precious, limited resource. One of the best water management tools for protecting stream flows is to set minimum flow levels in regulation. These are called “instream flows.”

An instream flow is like a senior water right for the stream and the resources that depend on it. In our role as water stewards, Ecology is required to ensure that adequate water is available to protect and preserve migrating fish, wildlife, recreation, aesthetics, water quality, and navigation.

Currently, instream flow levels are not being met for the Newaukum and Wynoochee rivers so junior surface water right holders must curtail commercial water use now. Those diverting waters from the Chehalis and Satsop have been alerted to their need to stay informed about flow levels and curtail use immediately if flows drop below the minimum threshold.

Curious to know more about water levels and instream flows? Water rights holders in the Chehalis River basin can check the status of river flows every day — and you can, too.

It’s easy to monitor the levels of these rivers online. If instream flows aren’t being met, an alert posts saying that reported flows are below the minimum:

• Lower Chehalis  
• Upper Chehalis 
• Newaukum 

The weather has cooled and some rain has fallen, but we expect flows to continue to drop as we move into late summer. Junior rights holders are asked to comply with regulation requirements. Water resources personnel will keep a field presence and are available to answer your questions.

Learn more about Washington water law.

Puget Sound Nutrient Watch: A new blog series

Welcome to our first installment of “Puget Sound Nutrient Watch,” an ongoing series of blogs that will focus on the excess nutrient problem in Puget Sound.

A healthy Puget Sound is an integral part of our cultural history and future. Are nutrients causing it to change?

In this post we will be going over why we care about excess nutrients and how they are affecting Puget Sound. Read on to learn about:

• Our recent Puget Sound Nutrient Dialogue that brought together scientists from across Puget Sound region to discuss the latest science on nutrients.
• Why you should care. Understand what happens to a water body that is overly rich with nutrients. 
• Two brand-new publications on nutrients in Puget Sound. These review new modules that have been added to the robust Salish Sea computer model. 
• The report on the Sediment Diagenesis Module describes how the model incorporates the dynamic interaction of nutrients within the sediment and water column. 
• The report on the Ocean Acidification Module reveals on how the new ocean acidification module can help us pinpoint areas in Puget Sound that are influenced the most by regional sources of nutrients.
• How can nutrients be bad? Impacts that excess nutrients cause to the health of the Sound.
• What to expect in this blog series.

Puget Sound Nutrient Dialogue

We would like to thank everyone that came out to the Puget Sound Nutrient Dialogue in Auburn last month, it was a great success! We had around 120 people show up ready to participate in the conversation surrounding the science of excess nutrients in Puget Sound.

Puget Sound Nutrient Dialogue participants eager to save the Sound.

If you missed out and would like to participate in future events, please sign up for email notifications through our Listserv. We welcome the opportunity to collaborate with others who value the Puget Sound and want to protect it from excess nutrients.

Presentation slides, a summary of the event, pictures, videos, and more from the Puget Sound Nutrient Dialogue will be posted on the project webpage.

Why should we care? 

Nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and organic carbon are an important part of a healthy and productive marine ecosystem. Excess nutrients, however, can be problematic for marine water quality – most often nitrogen. Just as you need nutrients to keep your body healthy, too much of anything throws the system out of balance. 

We're working to understand nutrient problems in Puget Sound
so we can keep it the beautiful natural resource that it is today. 

When it enters marine waters in excessive amounts, nitrogen causes what is called eutrophication. Eutrophication is the term for what happens when a water body becomes over-enriched with nutrients. This over-abundance of nutrients will cause dense growth of algae and plant life and the death of animal life from lack of oxygen.

Nitrogen acts like a fertilizer causing algae to grow. Too much nitrogen results in excessive algae growth, which puts the health of Puget Sound off balance. When algae die and decompose, it consumes oxygen out of the water column (especially at depth). In some shallow inlets and bays around the Sound, this will deplete oxygen to low levels which stresses fish and the other critters that live in important nearshore habitats.

Thinking about our future

Our science today tells us we have a nutrient over-enrichment problem in Puget Sound. We are in the beginning phase of a long-term project that will ultimately help us address this overabundance of nutrients. Our goal is to ensure the Puget Sound we know and love remains resilient to stresses from nutrient problems caused by our growing population and exacerbated by climate change.

Latest science – understanding the problem

Salish Sea graphic of nutrient-rich zones
from the Salish Sea Model.

One of the most important tools for understanding the effects of nutrients in Puget Sound is the Salish Sea Model. The model was developed by Pacific Northwest National Labs in collaboration with Ecology scientists and with grant funding from EPA.

This robust computer model helps us better identify human sources of nutrients that are negatively impacting the health of Puget Sound by simulating the natural environment. It models complex water circulation and water quality dynamics in all of Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the Strait of Georgia.

Our two latest publications - released July 2017 - help predict impacts that are influencing Puget Sound's health.

The Sediment Diagenesis Module added the capability to the Salish Sea Model to simulate sediment-water exchanges. This module simulates the way organic matter decomposes, which allows the model to more accurately reflect actual conditions in Puget Sound. As organic matter decays both within the water column and bottom sediment layers, nutrients are released back to the water and consume oxygen in the process.

The Ocean Acidification Module calculates the impacts of regional nutrient sources on acidification. Results from this effort indicate that human-related sources of nitrogen and organic carbon can influence Puget Sound's carbonate system balance.

Toxic algae blooms - like this one that happened at
Deception Pass - can be caused by eutrophication.

Blogging on how this issue impacts Puget Sound’s health

Throughout this series we will dive into the specific impacts caused by excessive nutrients in Puget Sound that have damaging effects on water quality.

These impacts potentially include:

• Harming nearshore habitat and benthic invertebrates
• Intensifying ocean acidification at some locations
• Facilitating the break-down of the marine food web
• Increasing the number of algae blooms

Stay tuned as upcoming blog features dig into each of these issues, highlight new reports, and share new information as it becomes available.

Tackling the Puget Sound nutrient problem

The Puget Sound Nutrient Source Reduction Project is using best available science to understand the nutrient problems in the Sound and develop a plan to reduce human impacts so that we can protect the health and resiliency of Puget Sound.

The Salish Sea Model is a state-of-the-art computer modeling tool that allows scientists, engineers, and planners to understand the complex physical, chemical, and biological patterns in circulation and water quality. We will be using the model to compare Puget Sound to marine water quality standards, understand how bad water quality will be if we continue with the status quo, and evaluate nutrient reduction options for improving and restoring the Sound to meet our water quality goals.

Visit our website and join our listserv to get up-to-date information concerning the nutrient problem in Puget Sound. You can also this full blog series by searching "Puget Sound Nutrient Watch". We want this to be a collaborative effort that brings all of the technical work that is happening on Puget Sound nutrients together. We need all hands on deck to find the best solutions for meeting water quality goals for Puget Sound.

By: Jenny Robertson, Ecology Environmental Specialist

Eyes Under Puget Sound: Critter of the month – Common Sun Star

Crossaster papposus; photo courtesy of Neil McDaniel,
http://www.seastarsofthepacificnorthwest.info/index.html

Getting ready for the Aug. 21 solar eclipse? Well, this month’s critter was born ready. The Common Sun Star goes by many common names – Rose Star, Spiny Sun Star, Snowflake Star – but no matter what you call it, there’s nothing common about Crossaster papposus. We think it is out of this world!

Total eclipse of the star

With its bright sun-like appearance, the Common Sun Star is one of the more beautiful creatures in Puget Sound. Individuals can be all one color but generally vary in color and pattern, with some featuring pink, white, orange, and yellow rings.

A star is born

Common Sun Stars can grow to an impressive 14 inches or 34 centimeters across – larger than a dinner plate – but they also grow slowly, taking 10 years to reach maximum size. As small juveniles, they prefer shallow subtidal habitats; as adults they migrate to deeper waters, down to 1,200 meters in depth. This explains why we rarely encounter them while sediment sampling, although they occur from Alaska to Puget Sound – as well as the north Atlantic coast).



Two Common Sun Stars with different color patterns; photo
courtesy of Dave Cowles at https://inverts.wallawalla.edu/

Well-armed

The Common Sun Star has more arms than the typical five-armed sea star that's familiar to most of us. Resembling the sun for which the family Solasteridae was named, it has many pointed ray-like arms originating from a broad central disk. Some sea stars have as few as eight or as many as 16 arms. For this species, the magic number of arms is almost always 11. It, too, can regenerate, or grow back, missing or damaged arms if the central disc remains intact.

Close up of pseudopaxillae on top surface of a
preserved Crossaster papposus specimen.

A spine in the sand

Even if the Common Sun Star didn’t have a unique shape and color, it has plenty of distinct features that taxonomists like us can use to identify it. Its dorsal – or top – surface is covered with little hedgehog-like bundles of spines called pseudopaxillae. The mouth (located on the animal’s underside) is bare and surrounded by long spines, and there are two rows of sucker-tipped tube feet running down each arm. It also lacks pedicellariae, tiny pincer-like defense organs that many other echinoderms possess. 



Common Sun Star goes into attack mode;
photo courtesy of Neil McDaniel
 http://seastarsofthepacificnorthwest.info/index.html

Here comes the sun (star)

A dominant and agile predator, the Common Sun Star scoots across the sediment at 70 centimeters a minute, using sensory chemoreceptors to “smell” when a potential prey animal is near. While the Common Sun Star wouldn’t quite beat the Sand Star (Luidia foliolata) in a race, it has several other advantages over its speedy relative. By standing on the tiptoes of its tube feet, it can make itself tall enough to cover and engulf its prey.

Can you put your stomach outside your body to eat a big meal?  Well this star can. It has an eversible stomach, which means it can turn its stomach inside out, shooting it out through its mouth. This gives the Common Sun Star the ability to handle the larger prey items it likes to munch such as sea urchins, other sea stars, and clams.  When it appears with a big hump, you know it’s enjoying a big meal.

A brighter future?

In 2013, scientists in Washington State discovered sea stars that appeared to be wasting away and dying from a mysterious disease. We now know that Sea Star Wasting Syndrome is caused by an ocean virus, and it has wiped out millions of sea stars on the Pacific coast. Although Crossaster papposus is not one of the species hit the hardest, a few cases of wasting Common Sun Stars have been documented in British Columbia, and they are listed as “likely affected.” Keeping our fingers and arms crossed that sea star populations will rebound and thrive on our coast once more.

Critter of the Month
Our benthic taxonomists, Dany Burgess and Angela Eagleston, are scientists who identify and count the benthic (sediment-dwelling) organisms in our samples as part of Ecology’s Marine Sediment Monitoring Program. We are tracking the numbers and types of species we see in order to understand the health of Puget Sound and to detect any changes over time.

Dany and Angela share their discoveries by bringing us Critter of the Month. These posts will give you a peek into the life of Puget Sound's least-known inhabitants. We'll share details on identification, habitat, life history, and the role each species plays in the sediment community. Can get enough benthos? See photos from our Eyes Under Puget Sound collection on Flickr.

Protecting our shorelines for public and environmental benefits

This week, the Department of Ecology formally revised the state procedural rules for managing marine and freshwater shorelines.

It’s all part of the state Shoreline Management Act, which was adopted by voters in 1972. The overarching goal of the act is to prevent the inherent harm in an uncoordinated and piecemeal development of the state’s shorelines.

Under it, cities and counties are required to periodically review their land-use policies and regulations governing shoreline uses within their jurisdiction. These locally tailored shoreline master programs (SMPs) are adopted and approved by each local government and Ecology.

Local governments helped us revise the rules and we also factored in comments we received from the public. The updated rules:

• Define procedures for counties and cities to comply with a legislative requirement to periodically review local master programs on a repeating eight-year cycle. The first round of reviews are due in June 2019 for jurisdictions in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties.
• Outline a new optional process cities and counties can use for amending SMPs that reduces duplication by consolidating local and state comment periods.
• Incorporate recent state laws and adopt other “housekeeping” changes.

For more information about the revised SMP rules, please contact our senior shoreline planner, Tim Gates.

Tackling toxics leads to economic boon for Wenatchee

Recently, the city of Wenatchee celebrated the groundbreaking for a new four-story, 174-room hotel and conference center, the Hilton Garden Inn, to be built along the city’s waterfront area. The development, a former public works yard, is a great example of how cleanups can help to turn blighted properties into new investments.

Holding up a rendering of the new hotel and conference center,

from left to right: Steve King, City of Wenatchee;

Valerie Bound, Matt Durkee, and Mary Monahan, Ecology's

Toxics Cleanup Program; and Justin Clary, Maul Foster Alongi.

Although the three-acre site was located on prime real estate near the Columbia River, for years developers were discouraged by the liability from potential contamination. In 2009, Ecology provided the city with a $150,000 Brownfields Integrated Planning Grant that funded an investigation of the contamination on the site and a redevelopment assessment. 

Various contaminants including lead, arsenic, benzene, and carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were found in the soil. The city entered the site into Ecology’s Voluntary Cleanup Program, bringing in our staff to provide technical assistance.

The preferred cleanup plan included capping the contaminated soil with a new building footprint, parking lot, and landscaping. Following construction of the cap, an environmental covenant was recorded for the property to ensure the cap remains in place.

In March 2016, Ecology determined that the site no longer posed a risk to human health or the environment. Cleaning up the site allowed the city to find a developer, Spokane-based A&A Construction and Development Company.

The hotel will be located just north of the Pybus Public Market, a successful waterfront development, and part of a broader development plan for the area (watch this video to learn how cleanups helped transform the Wenatchee waterfront).

During the August 4 groundbreaking ceremony, former Wenatchee Mayor Dennis Johnson said that the hotel “is the culmination of a dream that began 15 or 16 years ago. It’s an important project to help tie together pieces of development along the waterfront.”

Current Wenatchee Mayor Frank Kuntz said that the brownfield redevelopment will complement the adjacent market and neighboring downtown businesses, create jobs for the community, generate local and state tax revenues, and address a lodging shortage.

This has been an “impressive collaboration” with the city and its consultants, said Jim Pendowski, program manager of Ecology’s Toxics Cleanup Program. “We couldn’t ask for a better partner than the city and we appreciate their openness and willingness to think long term about what benefits their community.”

This urban revitalization project is an excellent example of how local governments can use Ecology-provided tools to enhance their communities.

By Cheryl Ann Bishop, Toxics Cleanup Program

Fecal Matters: Freeland County Park CLOSED to Swimming, Island County

BEACH Program Update

On August 10, 2017, Island County Public Health issued a no water contact health advisory for Freeland County Park beach. This closure was issued due to high fecal bacteria levels in the water. This beach will be re-sampled next week to see if bacterial levels have dropped. The public is advised to avoid any contact with the water until further notice.

Contact with fecal contaminated waters can result in gastroenteritis, skin rashes, upper respiratory infections, and other illnesses. Children and the elderly may be more vulnerable to waterborne illnesses.

Stay updated about water quality at your beaches by keeping up with us on our blog Fecal Matters, on Facebook, or join our listserv.

Julianne Ruffner, our BEACH Program Manager, is available at 360-407-6154 or julianne.ruffner@ecy.wa.gov for questions.

Smoke on the water, smoke in your eyes, what are you doing Friday at 5?

 Wildfire smoke can come on suddenly and last from hours to weeks. I’m sure you’ve noticed that Washington is currently smothered in smoke from the British Columbia wildfires.

If you’re planning on being outside this weekend, we’ve got some important safety tips for you.

Check for burn bans

There are multiple burn bans across the state right now. Before you go camping or have ANY kind of fire, check waburnbans.net to see if your area is under a burn ban. Recreational fires and the use of charcoal grills are banned in many areas. There are too many health and safety risks from all the smoke and high temperatures!

Health effects from smoke exposure

The smoke you see is made up of small particulate matter, called PM2.5. Even if you are healthy, it can affect you. Watch for symptoms that include:

• Itchy eyes and throat.
• Coughing.
• Headache.
• Nausea.
• Sneezing.
• Difficulty breathing.

If you have children, are pregnant, elderly, or have any kind of respiratory or cardiovascular disease you are particularly susceptible to these symptoms. 

If air quality is unhealthy in your area, stay indoors with the windows closed and limit your outdoor activity. Consider mowing the lawn, or jogging, another day when the air has cleared. If you must be outside you can purchase an N95 mask at a local hardware store.

Now you can monitor air quality on the go!

The Environmental Protection Agency just released the Android version of the Smoke Sense app that lets you: 

• Monitor air quality in your area.
• Log your health symptoms if you’re in a smoky area.
• Learn how air pollution affects your health.

When you use this app, you’re helping EPA study how exposure to wildfire smoke affects public health and productivity, and how they can communicate those risks to you.
 
Download the app from the Google Play Store or visit the EPA website to learn more (iPhone app coming soon).


Have a great weekend and be safe out there!

By Kim Allen and Miriam Duerr| Air Quality